![]() Now, he faces the prospect of spending the rest of his life as a solitary exile. The narrator has lost his family, his friends, his lord, his home and his place in society. Loneliness is a dominant theme of "The Wanderer," and it intensifies the sorrowful tone that characterizes the poem. His past seems warm and bright, and his future bleak and cold. "The Wanderer" is a classic example of such a lament for the loss of past joys, as its narrator remembers how he once had security and safety, a happy home, friends, a family and somewhere he belonged. Thus, against the backdrop of a larger ethnic and cultural sense of loss, Anglo-Saxon literature often portrays tales of individual loss and misfortune. With the departure of Rome from Britain and the descent of the "dark ages," cities decayed, travel became difficult and dangerous, and existence in isolated villages and hamlets became poor and precarious. Such an "ubi sunt" quality is characteristic of much Anglo-Saxon poetry, which often looks back to Roman rule in Britain as a distant golden age. Scholars say a work of literature has an "ubi sunt" quality when it is pervaded by a mood of longing for the better times of the past. The words "ubi sunt" mean "where are" in Latin. The picture emerges of a shivering, solitary figure, huddled against the cold and guiding his fragile boat through the damp, bitter chill and driving sleet of the northern sea. The narrator of "The Wanderer" speaks of the sea, in particular, as "ice cold," with "frozen waves." He also mentions frost, snow and hail. Thus, in most Anglo-Saxon poetry the imagery of the natural world creates a mood of dread and gloom, rather than peace or joy. Storms, cold, disease, war, violence and wild animals menaced the communities who lived there. The characteristic setting of Anglo-Saxon poetry is that of the cold, dark, European north of the middle ages, where winter was long and harsh, summer short and fickle and sunlight rare. "The Wanderer" conveys a perception of nature as harsh and cold, dangerous and inhospitable to human beings.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |